Cannabis Addiction Treatment at All-Time Highs, Potent "Skunk" Blamed

According to figures from the National Treatment Agency, people receiving help for cannabis abuse rose to 22,500 in 2006-2007, up from 13,400 during 2004-2005. The younger demographic almost doubled for the same period, rising to 9,500 from 5,000.

Super-strength varieties of home-grown skunk are replacing the North African hash found in Britain, which can approach strengths 25 times that of plants grown just a decade prior. Mental illness has almost doubled among cannabis users, nearing 1,000.

The National Crime Survey figures shows cannabis use is dropping. Despite research that suggests higher risks for mental illnesses among cannabis users, researchers are now trying to determine if they were already ill prior to their cannabis usage.

addiction??? psychologically perhaps... not physically which is how most drugs are considered addictive, the physically need for it. cannabis has no such addiction.

also treatment for marijuana use is usually forced on people usually as part of getting out of jail early or avoiding it altogether.

and finally about skunk... skunk is not one of the more potent forms of cannabis... super skunk is, but thats adding chemicals to weed... the stongest weed i know of is BC Big Bud, some time ago the US referred to it as the crack of cannabis, skunk is often that weed you smell when you walk down the street and a block later you can still clearly smell weed... its smell is very potent, its intoxicating effects are average.

and as far as being upto 25 time more potent than a decade ago... i think any marijuana smoker with half a brain would be able to clear this up... the potency really hasn't changed, methods of smoking have (you get a different high off a joint than that off a bong, bong usually yeild a quicker more intense high)... actually depending on the person you might even get told that weed was better a few decades ago than now, not to mention much cheaper.

mental illness... i think mental illness cases are on the rise peroid, esspecially as it being looked for more actively now than before, i don't think drugs, much less marijuana have all that much to do with it if anything at all.

it has been proven (so links sorry) that those predisposed to mental illness can bring on their conditions, or elevate them by using pot, i agree it cant make a perfectly stable (mentally) person insane, but it can adversly effect the people with problems. The same as serious alcoholism can bring out underlying mental disorders.

I agree with havoc on the rise of mental illness. That was my first thought after reading the article. But so is the us of cannabis, the use of television, the use of computer games... . There's more and more that contributes to mental illness, there's more and more that has nothing to do with it, there's less and less of something to prevent it.

As far is skunk is concerned, it is just the most commonly known. It's like calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover even if it's another brand. Skunk seems to have become synonymous with anything that's been grown under controlled conditions - usually with electrical lighting and hydroponics.

Weed wasn't better decades ago. There is just more variety now and what people liked smoking then is probably not commercially viable now and hence harder to get. I have no idea how much more potent cannabis has become but there are definitely varieties available that are much more potent at present.

Different varieties also have a different balance of active ingredients which are also influenced by how it's grown and what happens after the harvest. Depending on how and what is grown, the final result can get you stoned and heavy, high and creative or just leave you feeling agitated. That said I recall reading that at some point normal mushrooms laced with LSD were being sold as magic mushrooms. (nb. a good read: http://www.wired.com/... )So unless you're growing your own, you don't know what you are buying. This is not a call to become a grower. We should all remain nice, tax paying and law abiding citizens.

Quote from the original article : “…has been replaced on the streets by home-grown skunk, a highly potent form of cannabis leaves.” Shows some unfamiliarity with the matter. The leaves, along with the stems and roots are generally not used.

The following is taken from a link in the source to an article that is also on the telegraph:“The report fails to recognise the specific link between cannabis, particularly in its more potent form of skunk, and psychotic breakdown. In some cases the hallucinations, delusions and paranoia triggered by smoking a "harmless" spliff can lead to lifelong mental illness, even suicide.”

I don’t think I need to say anymore about whether anyone should take the telegraph’s view on cannabis seriously. I’d also like to note that the potency jumps from 10 times to 25 times within ten days according two the articles and considering their dates of publishing.

Some of the things I read on the telegraph after typing cannabis into their site search... uhm... is there some sort of Hearst and Anslinger society that has become active?

By the way, from the generally available resources, it appears that more and more of the cannabis production in the UK appears to be run by predominantly Vietnamese gangs.

not good for your mental health in the long run. it slows your mind. sure you can have some mind-expanding experiences, but thereafter it's just a blanket on your brain, while you go insane... in the membrane....

skunk? super-skunk? These people use funny languages. The plants are made up of stems, leaves and flowers/buds. The buds are the most potent part and can vary a lot when grown well. Not like buzzwords have ever swayed opinion before though.. damn terrorists

It's like growing a tomatoe that's too good so you call it a pluffding and start your vegetable empire. Damn, it's a fruit empire isn't it.. we shouldn't rush things though.

The people are competent! Banning it just turned us into tree growing hermit crabs and now with extra 'crazy tar' added for good measure. The problems's grown too much for big bro to take care of so best leave it to the experts :D with the added bonus we all have dissociative identity disorders! That is, if you don't fit the mold, you're wrong apparently.

"Well to be honest havoc it has been proven (so links sorry) that those predisposed to mental illness can bring on their conditions, or elevate them by using pot, i agree it cant make a perfectly stable (mentally) person insane, but it can adversly effect the people with problems. The same as serious alcoholism can bring out underlying mental disorders."

i think the keys thing here is the condition is already present in the person... simple fact marijuana isn't for everyone, same as alcohol and anything else... if your lactos and toleratant its probably not a good idea to drink milk or eat dairy, as there is a condition already present that said products can/will trigger.

@starshadow

"You also.. Have to keep in mind that they are talking about 'super-strong' varieties, not the regular stuff.."

i've smoked BC big bud, its one of the strongest strains of marijuana in north america.

also keep in mind there are two main types of marijuana and each produces a different type of high... IE, cannibis indica give more of a bofy stone than the head stone (not a tombstone...lol), where cannibis sativa generally gives a strong head stone and a weaker body stone.

i'd prefer not to smoke weed that takes about 2 grams to get a buzz, bring on the mutant weed, and i'll smoke it with my iron lungs.

i've not known a single person that has had this problem infact out of a few hundred people i've known that smoke weed; people i know personally, know through friends of know from parties, only 2 have every had negative effect from weed, one became paranoid of his own shadow for about 2 hours... and the other loses common social mannerism while stone... IE unintentionally talking directly into you face, voiding the concept of personal space, and incoherant rambling... but them again the latter a few metal problem present before weed... such as being bi-polar, but then again weed was the least of his concern what with E, coke and jingsing (sp?) seeds, mushroom ect...

@rcavi

" pot is clearly not good for your mental health in the long run. it slows your mind. sure you can have some mind-expanding experiences, but thereafter it's just a blanket on your brain, while you go insane... in the membrane...."

have you ever smoked weed... if you have was it really shitty weed?, because when i'm stone that when i doo my best thinking and writting, sure i'll have spelling mistake, but i type faster while i'm stone anyways, and that in and of itself can be responsible for increase spelling mistakes. i don't know about you ad a ican't speak for everyone else, but weed certianly helps me think... and above and beyond that... it keeps me more than calm enough to deal with the *ssholes and the morons in daily life.... and at the end of the day, thinking better, faster (not in everything certianly but when i apply myself), more creativitely. i'f known people who've smoke for twice as long as i am old (i'm 21 btw), suddenly quit cold turkey, and the mental state not be effected, and i don't think theres a person that a call people "dumb" for getting stone when they are still running intellectual rings around most., i've smoke weed for 6 year (the summer will make 7) and heavily for 5 of those years, now granted medically i'm not a "heavy smoker" but consuming up to 2 grams to get high and generally a few times day, i'd think would void me from being a light smoker... infact i've not ever met a person that smokes smokes more than i do without getting high, and no i don't caount red eye as being stones, as if you notice simply coughing alot can make your eyes bloodshot.

"....I know a lot of pot smoking 30 year olds that are living in their mothers basement, who have the maturity of a 16 year old. Coincidentally around the time they started smoking pot...."

And I, as well as probably you, could state that we know a higher number of pot smoking 30 year olds that are quite successful in life, have the maturity of a 30 year old, and started smoking pot around 16 years old.

nah, they're just weak. I'm also a daily smoker, smoking mostly skunk/swazi(a nice indica plant). There is a "strong" mental addiction but none physically(research will prove me right). Like most things in life, it's all in the mind.

We had to watch a video in one of my computer classes about the beginnings of the modern OS. I can't remember what the name of the video is, but it made a reference to two guys sitting in a hot tub, smoking pot, and coming up with new ideas.

But then there are the cases of people living at home for the rest of their lives, smoking pot, and playing video games.

It would be nice to see it legalized, regulated, and treated the same way as beer.

The modern OS was created by Zerox, they picked a team of 20 of the best computer scientists in the world and locked them away for a year, thought the OS was never going to be possible, so didnt copyright.

By the way, according to wikipedia, "There are four caffeine-induced psychiatric disorders recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition: caffeine intoxication, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, caffeine-induced sleep disorder, and caffeine-related disorder not otherwise specified (NOS)."

Further: "In some individuals, the large amounts of caffeine can induce anxiety severe enough to necessitate clinical attention. This caffeine-induced anxiety disorder can take many forms, from generalized anxiety to panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, or even phobic symptoms.[62] Because this condition can mimic organic mental disorders, such as panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, or even schizophrenia, a number of medical professionals believe caffeine-intoxicated people are routinely misdiagnosed and unnecessarily medicated when the treatment for caffeine-induced psychosis would simply be to withhold further caffeine.[63] A study in the British Journal of Addiction concluded that caffeinism, although infrequently diagnosed, may afflict as many as one person in ten of the population."

So, it seems that "severe mental psycosis [sic]" is actually shared side-effect territory between the two drugs.

Did I say anywhere in my post that they invented the technology? No. Allow me to quote myself: "the beginnings of the modern OS."

Xerox, pay attention to the spelling, developed both a GUI and mouse for their PARC interface. It took those "two pot heads" to help develop it into what the majority of the world uses today. It was also Xerox who sold the access to this technology to the pot heads.

I don't know exactly who the two pot heads were, but one was an early Microsoft guy. It wasn't Gates, but one of the original staff.

have you seen people that can't get coffee... some with cigarette... often times just as bad in the short term, cigarettes have worse long term withdrawl effects... coffee generally has short-term withdrawl effects

"..............

Side effects of weedsevere mental psycosis."

such as... because seriously i've never met a person that was driven to such BY weed, rather weed brought out such condition that the person already had to begin with.

"Yep, weeds great, and we've not even touched on cancer yet."

yes, lets not even touch the fact that THC has been shown to supress tumor growth

"I think weed should be legal, but ignoring its side effects, like it is addictive, it can cause mental psycosis makes you just as bad as the idiots who think it will make you kill people."

oh i agree weed has side effects to, but s far as i have personally seen weed has no such effect of being the CAUSE of pychosis, again this isn't to say that weed does bring out pre-existing underlying conditions...

personally the worse side effects i've seen are; fatigue, lack of motivation (while under the influence, and this certianly doesn't apply to all users), black out (happened twice to me; my fault really, holding a toke for more than 10 seconds isn't nessessary... but is does yeild a more intense stone, i was not hurt, infact i felt totally regenerated, as if i had the best nights sleep, was only out for a few second both times; less than 30 from the time i fell down to the time i jumpped [litterially] back to my feet.

"As for mind expanding, that just makes you sound foolish."

have you ever experienced being high, you honestly do think about things atleast slightly differently... for me, its more calmly, maybe even alittle more openly, however its usually more bluntly put...

though i challenge you to tell the difference my post from high of not... and you'd probably be amazed at how intelligent some potheads are... most pothead really can't be distingushed from non-weed smokers... they live normal live, hold normal jobs... they vote, they pay taxes...etc etc

its been proven that THC can and does bolster creativity.

personally i believe weed should be legal otherwise alot of other things, ought to be illegal for their side effect, marijuana has very few side effects of any real concern in most people.

i don't think everyone should smoke weed, because i know its not for everyone... hell drinking is really not all that much for me, generally doesn't make me feel good, whereas weed almost always does... i'd far prefer to get stoned than drunk anyday.

hell i still have a 1.18L cooler in the fridge from new years, i bought two on new years eve and i still got one... man i wish my weed lasted that long... my weed has a shorter life expectancy and a american paratrooper in veitnam (might be a bad analogy but i've heard it was really low)...lol

Just a thought on the THC slowing tumor growth.... Chemotherapy ALSO slows/kills tumors and I don't think anyone elects for chemotherapy as a recreational activity. A characteristic of cancer cells is that they tend to take on the characteristics of their orginating cells.. I'll let you put this one together.

I'm not taking a side to this whole 'debate' but I'd like to reiterate my feelings toward respecting others decisions... if you like pot wonderful...but any health official will tell you that if you have the option to avoid introducing chemicals into your body it's probably the healthiest choice.

"@Havoc Just a thought on the THC slowing tumor growth.... Chemotherapy ALSO slows/kills tumors and I don't think anyone elects for chemotherapy as a recreational activity. A characteristic of cancer cells is that they tend to take on the characteristics of their orginating cells.. I'll let you put this one together."

yeah chemo not on my list... however hyperbaric chamber sessions can also be used to treat cancer... and i WOULD recommend that... and it does produce and intoxicating effect in most people similar to the feelign of being drunk.

"I'm not taking a side to this whole 'debate' but I'd like to reiterate my feelings toward respecting others decisions... if you like pot wonderful...but any health official will tell you that if you have the option to avoid introducing chemicals into your body it's probably the healthiest choice."

lol...lets go one step further... anyone with a brain will tell you that smoke inhalation is not good for you... regeurdless of what kind of smoke (atleast any form of smoke i'm readily familiar with)... smoke inhalation is bad for the lungs... and in severe cases of smoke inhalation can cause brain damage (however its not the smoke itself that does this but rather the oxygen deprivation associated with it)

i don't think i've ever claimed smoking weed was healthy but i will go as far as to say its safe, reasonably safe, in my opinion pot is safer than coffee/pop or other caffeine rich drinks, same with energy drinks sold in stores and certianly far, far safer than cigarettes and alcohol.

@gogevandire"@Havoc You seem to have me pegged wrong"

well that easy to do when i really don't know you...lol

"I've used weed and will again I'm sure, alcoholo makes you think differently too...."

sometimes, usually sluggishly, which is why i don't like to drink much... anything i can do sober i can do stoned... and in most cases have, yeah i've injured myself stoned, but i've also injured myself sober, and many time worse... though weed's painkiller effect might have something to do with this

"But then you realise you were just a muppet chasing imaginary clouds"

lol never can to that conclusion... once though there was a giant purple ele... no, wait there wasn't...lol

"THC may suppress tumours, but thats not all your smoking."

oh i fully agree... usually growers will use pesticides, when cannabis as a plant really doesn't require them... the biggest concern to pot plants are cats and spidermites, both problems are easy to solve, hell there are even a few fertilizers that kill spidermites.

"If you were to smoke lawn grass, the effects would be far from beneficial."

i can only assume that to be correct... anyone wanna be the guinnea pig???

ok, one more comment... to all the people who think pot is horrible, and has side effects, can you tell me of anything in this world that doesn't have side effects from overuse?

Drinking too much water will kill you, eatting too much leads to a ton of health problems and will probably kill you, asprin, yup those will kill you, Alchol, yeah that will kill you... there are very few things that won't kill you from over doing it.

Now marijuana, even with it's side effects, won't kill you from over using it. Not that I'm saying you should, everyone should know when to say when. If you don't, blame the person, not what you did it with.

On a side note... 22,500 people doesn't seem like that many... how many people went through treatment for alchol, cigarettes, sleeping pills, etc, in the same year, in Britain? I know for the US, the numbers for cigarette and alchol treatment make weed look like it's very very minor.

yeah water intoxication is something most people flat don't know about... after all we were all told to drink water to not dehydrate... how can something so basic be bad for you... well for those who don't know... drinking too much water flushes much needed nutrients.

"but any health official will tell you that if you have the option to avoid introducing chemicals into your body it's probably the healthiest choice." You are absolutely correct. They WILL tell you not to do this while they are writing you a pescription for lithium, Xanax and Zoloft.